INTERVIEW: ENTREPRENEURSHIP


Skylane’s laboratory is used to test its transceivers. Active and passive optical modules are meticulously scrutinised g


photonics engineering per year. To overcome this problem, I’ve had to pay ex-colleagues living in places like India, Malaysia and the Philippines to move to Belgium to help on the R&D and develop the company. Weakness of Europe: even


though Europe has been moving fast over the last five years in terms of technology and knowledge, a major problem is that having 28 countries with 28 decision- makers has made it difficult to bring this knowledge and expertise together to produce commercial products. As a result, unlike China, which invests huge amounts of money in photonics, Europe has been slow to invest. If you go to a bank in Belgium and ask for €4m to launch a company, you’ll be lucky to get €400,000, whereas asking for $10m in the US is seen as pocket money.


How do you see the future for Skylane Optics? I’ve recently agreed more funding from an investment group which will allow us to go faster and to reinvest in Europe. Three years ago we decided to focus more on application software and to build a software ecosystem around the optical transceiver, to prevent aging of the transceiver and to allow the operator to know what they have in their network.


46 Electro Optics March 2021 We’re members of TIP


(The Telecom Infra Project), which aims to evolve telecom equipment and software into more flexible and interoperable forms, and also OCP, the Open Compute Project, that shares designs of data centre products and best practices. In the near future, all telecom operators will move to an open platform and we’re now researching TIP/ OCP technology to find out how we can bring added value, and develop a European solution for next-generation networks.


If you could start again what would you do differently? Firstly, I wouldn’t share my knowledge and ideas unless


I was sure where they were going. Apart from that, it’s a difficult question for someone who’s been in the business for 30 years, because it’s a completely different world now. I started communicating using telex, then fax and then computers. Also, when I started in 2008, I was completely alone in Europe, there was no one to work with and it was difficult to get investment. Nowadays, it’s much easier to collaborate with other companies, as we’re currently doing in the move to higher bit rates and integrating PICs and optimising silicon photonics. Another big


difference is that today, you can start small and tap into €60m of EU funding.


What are your words of wisdom for young entrepreneurs? If you want to scale up from an idea, you’ll need a lot of funding behind you. This will require becoming


very skilled at pitching your idea for two minutes to investors, who will usually want to know how they’ll get a return on their investment in around 12 months. Secondly, if you want to


grow fast, you’ll really have to get into the software, as this is the key for future growth. EO


Skylane Optics acquired by Halo Technology Group


Cabling and transceiver manufacturer, Halo Technology Group, has acquired Skylane Optics. The acquisition is designed to improve technical reach and enhance operational power to Halo. New additions, such as Skylane’s CFP-DCO Coherent product offering, will improve Halo’s ability to meet its customers’ growing needs of network flexibility and fibre maximisation. Operationally, says the firm, there will be a


benefit of improved production capacity, automation and manufacturing efficiencies with the Anaconda production system.


This marks the third


successful acquisition by Halo since it was formed in 2017 by Inflexion Private Equity Partners to create a global optoelectronics platform. Matt McCormick, chief


executive officer at Halo, said: ‘We are incredibly excited about adding Skylane’s


cutting-edge product offering and their very talented team to our group. Halo is committed to growing the Skylane business and to continue to meet the demands of its sophisticated and diverse customer base.’ Al Aguirre, chairman of


Halo Technology, added: ‘The Skylane transaction enhances the group’s abilities and further proves the value of the platform as a global growth vehicle.’


@electrooptics | www.electrooptics.com


Skylane Optics


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